Stripping a Solo Micro Bootlegger Kayak (Time-Lapse)

The boat we are working on in this video is a Solo Micro Bootlegger, a 14-foot recreational kayak.

This video is a time-lapse of the stripping process, showing how the cedar strips are applied to the forms. Nick starts with the hull, explaining how he uses a part line and brackets to align the first strip. He then uses a Robo Bevel to create the necessary bevels for a tight fit.

To create the centerline, Nick attaches brackets to the bottom of the hull and screws down a strip. Then, using a router, he cuts a groove along the centerline. After stripping the other side of the hull, the boat is flipped, and work begins on the deck.

Stripping the deck is similar to the hull but requires more RoboBeveling due to the curvature. Nick decides to bookmatch some of the cedar on the back deck for a nice aesthetic, even though the customer didn't request it. He works quickly, moving from one section to the next to allow the glue to dry.

Instructions for Stripping the Kayak Hull

  • Mark a part line on the forms.
  • Attach brackets to the bottom edge of the groove.
  • Align the first strip with the brackets and double check to ensure it is straight.
  • Use a RoboBevel to create the necessary bevels for a tight fit.
  • Insert an accent strip at the waterline.
  • Use hot melt glue as stitches between the strips.
  • Ensure each strip crosses the centerline to avoid gaps.
  • Use a heat gun to soften the tight bond and realign strips if they are uneven.

Creating the Keel Line

  • Glue brackets matching the bottom contour of the boat to masking tape pads.
  • Align the brackets with the centerline and screw a strip on top.
  • Use a router to cut a groove along the centerline.
  • Leave a small gap between the strips along the keel line.
  • After cutting the groove with the router, fill the gap with a strip.

Preparing to Flip the Hull

  • Remove staples and reinforce the bottom with masking tape.
  • Flip the hull and break the forms free.
  • Add a small dot of hot melt glue between the top strip and forms to hold the hull while working on the deck.

Stripping the Deck

  • Glue a scrap strip to the deck strip and another to the hull strip to keep the part line aligned for sanding.
  • Stop running strips across the cockpit area when the strips reach it.
  • Trim the deck strips when you get to the centerline on the foredeck.
  • Plane and install an accent strip instead of using the router on the foredeck.
  • Use a heat gun to pre-twist the center strips if they have twists.

Working on Multiple Sections

  • Work on the foredeck, left and right sides of the aft deck.
  • Move between sections to allow glue to dry while working on another.

Chapters

  • 0:00 Introduction to Stripping the Solo microBootlegger 
  • 0:41 Project Introduction
  •  1:24 Stripping the Hull 
  • 3:25 Centerline and Flipping 
  • 4:41 Stripping the Deck 
  • 7:14 Outro

 Hi, welcome back to the Guillemot Kayaks Workshop. I’m Nick Schade. It’s been a long time since I released a video. It’s not that I haven’t been out in the workshop, um, I have been. But, I’ve had to prioritize getting work done in here over taking videos. I actually have a lot of video in the can. I just finished up building a boat for myself, recently. And I’ve got that all captured on video. It’s called the Micro Bootlegger Runner. It’s a cool boat. I’ve got a lot of video captured through that. I haven’t, I didn’t document every step of the way, but there was some things I did differently that I captured, and videos from that will be coming out eventually. Right now, I have started building a boat for a customer again. I don’t have a lot of time to edit the videos for this. So, in this case, I’ve, uh, just set up a camera on time-lapse, and I’ll show you the process in a time-lapse manner. So, the boat I’m building now is a Solo Micro Bootlegger, which is 14 foot, a little bit wider, sort of recreational kayak. I’m building it with a western red cedar. And for the first video, I’m just, I’ve set it on time-lapse and captured the whole stripping process without talking about it too much more. Let’s just sit back and watch the stripping process of this 14 foot Micro Bootlegger Solo.

The first strip is always the trickiest. I’ve got some, I’ve got a part line marked on the forms, a little horizontal groove I cut into the CNC machine. And I’ve just put some brackets at the bottom edge of that groove and use those to line the first strip. Then, double check it, slide down and make sure it’s straight and true. The stripping on the sides is pretty straightforward. There’s not a lot of curvature to it, so most of the strip is fairly, uh, square edged. But I do come through with the, uh, Robo Bevel, just to give whatever bevels needed on there. I tested to make sure it’s tight towards the back, there’s a little bit more curvature and requires a little bit more of Robo beveling. Once I got up to the water line, I decided to put an accent strip in there at the water line. So initially, I just tried some that I had, and now you can see me off to the left cutting these strips there. Once I got those cut, I needed to do a little bit of beveling to make it so they’d fit on there right. And then go ahead and install those.

Do, as I round the chime, the bevel needed to get a good tight fit is a little bit more extreme. So, I’ve got to spend a little bit more time with the Robo Bevel getting that to get a nice tight fit. Do, so now that I made it around the chine, and the strips are up to the knuckle at the bottom of the stem, I’m only stripping on this side. And since I’m moving faster, I put some hot melt glue between the strips as little stitches, so I can take the tape off and move more quickly. Each strip serves to clamp the strip before it, except the, at the ends where there’s not another strip. So I use some tape there to hold it down. I want to make sure each strip, the end of it, crosses the center line completely so there’s no gaps when I’m done. I’m not using cove and bead strips, so some of the strips ended up a little high and low. So the tight bond, I can heat up with the heat gun, soften it, and realign the strips.

I made some little brackets that match the bottom contour of the boat and glued these down onto some little pads of masking tape with hot melt glue. Aligned them up with the centerline and then screwed a strip down on top of those. And use this to do the router trick to cut a groove along the center line. I leave the router fence in place while I strip up the other side. Here I’m not trying to get a tight seam along this keel line. I use a quarter inch router bit to cut the groove, and so I want to have the seam there tighter than a quarter inch. So, I’m leaving a gap of like an eighth inch there. Then, when I come through and cut it again, I’ll end up with a quarter inch wide strip, and I’ll drop a piece in there to fill that gap. Do, do, so, so. And pulling all the staples, and then reinforcing the bottom with some extra masking tape just to hold it together while I flip it over and break the forms free.

I want the forms broken free so when I take, when I finish the deck, I’ll be able to get the hull off. I put a tiny dot of hot melt glue between the top strip and the forms just so there’s something holding the hull on while I work on the deck. Once I get the first deck strip on, I put a little tab, or a scrap strip glued to the deck strip sticking down, and another strip glued to the hull strip sticking up. This just keeps that part line aligned when I go to sand it between the forms. Do, there’s a lot of curvature in the back as it rolls over to meet the back deck. So a lot of Robo beveling required back there to get a good tight fit. Eventually, the strips coming up the side meet the cockpit, and so I don’t need to run strips across the cockpit area. So I no longer need full-length strips.

Like the key line on the hull, when I get to the deck center line on the four deck, I just strip one side, then come back and trim it. You’ll see I had a gap there that I glued a little scrap piece in to fit. And instead of using the router, I want to put a narrow accent strip there. So, I’m planing that and making it straight by hand. The drill on the back deck, similar to the front deck, except here, instead of having one center line, I’ve got two feature lines. So, I mark that, saw it and plane it, and then install an accent. So, um, so far, all the woods come out of one board. But, I’m not book matching it or doing any matching. I’m trying for a random. But, I’ve had some nice, uh, wide material that I was going to use on the back deck, and I decided to bookmatch that. The, these center strips have a lot of twists in them, so I’m using the heat gun to just pre-twist them. So I have three places to work right now, the four deck, and then the left and right side of the aft deck. I’m moving along pretty quickly, and I want the glue to dry before I peel the tape off. So, by moving from one station to the next, I can do one thing while glue’s drying in the other place. 

Thanks for watching that. I do intend to do more of these videos, um, I had, like I say, have the Micro Bootlegger Runner video in the can ready to edit. It’s just a big process. I still have to earn my living here making boats, and making videos doesn’t pay the bills quite the same way, um. But, I really would like to be able to put more time into the videos. And if you are interested in these videos, please like them, please subscribe to my channel, um, send comments, tell me what you’d like to see. All this stuff is important for me to know what’s worthwhile putting time into. And the more visibility my channel gets, the more of a priority I can give to the editing and taking a video. And more time I can put in for you guys versus my other more paying customers and, you know, the other projects I’m trying to get done. So, once again, thanks for watching and happy paddling.